When you are seeking a job as a Retail Assistant, it is essential to first check out a top-notch Retail Assistant resume sample. You want to make sure your resume stands out from the rest by being both informative and compelling to read, without bombarding the recruiter or hiring manager with irrelevant information. A Retail Assistant can also be called a Retail Worker, Retail Associate, or Retail Sales Assistant.

How to create a resume into an interview-winning document, will be easier with our: How to make a Resume Guideline for Retail Assistant Roles

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Retail Assistant Resume Samples

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Resume Sections

1. Contact Information: Name, Address, Phone Number, Email. Be sure to include alternative contact channels, as well as a possible LinkedIn profile.

2. Profile Summary: This introduction to your resume must make an impact on the reader. Include a broad overview of your background, years of industry experience and the industry sectors of interest. You should be specific and state which job you are applying to (1-3 sentences max).

3. Qualifications Summary: Provide accurate details about the certifications and qualifications you have completed with the institution, qualification name, and dates. Don’t forget to include qualifications you are currently completing too. Usually, no formal qualifications apart from a high school diploma are needed, but the short courses, workshops, and in-house training you have received should then be listed to provide more credibility to your resume.

4. Relevant Retail Assistant Experience: Clearly state your employment history from giving details regarding the last ten years of experience up until your current position. Use punchy sentences with bullet points to list your most important sales activities. Retail Assistants jobs usually exist in industries where you interact with customers, and consumers face-to-face, such as retail products, car part sales, electronics, food products, garments, gear, medicine and another type of consumer products bought over the counter or from a retail outlet or store. You have to be specific. State the nature of the product you are selling to customers. Also include the industry sector for example garden equipment, electronics or boutique clothing to name but a few.

5. Other Employment Experience: This will consist of permanent work history outside of direct customer sales but still in the customer service environment or temporary and vocational jobs where you were actively dealing with clients or customers. Only elaborate on these with job descriptions if you have less than five years of sales experience. Otherwise, just list job title company and duration as to make sure there are no gaps in your employment history.

6. Skills Summary/Key Skills: Incorporates keywords from the job posting and your specific skill set. This adds much-needed credibility to your resume.

7. Education/Licenses/Certifications/Relevant Coursework/Training: Start with your formal degrees if applicable and post-school diplomas or accreditations. List any professional development courses, workshops or programs you completed that better prepared you to work as a Retail Assistant such as direct sales strategies, negotiation tactics, conflict resolution techniques, industry, and product training.

What to Highlight in a Retail Assistant Resume

Regardless of your experience as a Retail Assistant, there are a few vital things that recruiters and managers need to know about you to ensure that you are the right fit for their team.
The first aspect to highlight is the scope of your retail tenure in product type or industry area. There are millions of businesses out there with every imaginable product on offer to customers. It would be best if you were specific about the product types you have sold to customers before.

Secondly, a Retail Assistant is the ‘’face of the business or brand’’ and work in outlet stores, department stores, warehouse stores, general merchandise stores, discount stores, specialty stores, supermarkets, farmer’s markets, malls and dollar stores. You need to show them that you are capable of providing excellent customer service, handle multiple client requests at the same time, provide information on products being sold and deal with complaints in an appropriate manner.

Retail Assistants are the link between the store’s products or services and the customer. It is vital that assistants promote a positive, friendly image of the store because their actions determine the impression that customers form of the store and whether they will visit the store again. Retail assistants can be stationed either at the till or on the floor depending on the store size.

Next, a Retail Assistant is also involved in back office support duties as an aid to the store manager. These duties may include tasks like stocktaking, ordering of stock, tracking product returns.

Finally comes the targets, goals and KPI metrics that you need to hit. Be number specific here for example how many incoming customers in a day, split between regulars and new customers, average daily sales generated, average sales per customer and so on.

*Cool Tip for a stellar resume

You can create an excellent first impression by breaking your job description down into the main responsibility areas of a Retail Assistant.

Type of store: Retail Assistants need to be knowledgeable about the products they are selling, for example, a Retail Assistant working in an electrical appliances store needs to know how these appliances work.
Product Knowledge: Present products or merchandise to customers and help them to choose the products which suit their needs. Assistants receive payments and give change for purchases.
Sales Transactions: Assistants process payments and provide the correct change for cash purchases. The work also entails filling out sales slips, the wrapping of purchases and making the arrangements for pick-up or home delivery.
Stock: If Retail Assistants are not busy serving customers, they need to check stock and note items that are running low or for which supplies are needed.
General Duties: Include answering telephone calls, handling inquiries and monitoring the store security to prevent shoplifting.
Cleaning: Clean, check and arrange shelves. Tidy up aisles and display areas. Ensure that shopping baskets are cleaned and sanitized.

Make sure to include the following details

The locations or regions you are willing to work in
Many Retail Assistant positions require employees to work during weekends, holidays and for extended hours in the early evening. You need to state your willingness to the outside of regular office hours or work weeks.
Also mention the retail systems you are familiar with like Point of Sale technology (VendHQ, Netsuite, SquarePOS, Inventory Tracking (RetailPro, GoldTech), Returns and Product Exchanges (Springboard, Axis) and general email platforms (Outlook, Gmail).

Retail Assistant Career Summary

Hiring managers have large numbers of resumes to screen and limited time to read them all in detail. Keep your career summary concise and to the point. Add the most relevant information first to capture their attention while they’re quickly scanning your resume. They want to see that you can sell products and provide excellent customer service!

Start your career summary with your years of experience in the industry and the primary duties you performed. Use the job description as your guide when deciding on which duties to add. The more your resume relates to the job description of keywords, the better fit you will seem.

Next, add a line that showcases any outstanding qualities that will add value to the company. A hiring manager would be interested to know if you have “strong people skills, sound mathematical abilities and a pro at handling difficult customers.” It’s important to note that these qualities should be proven with examples in the professional experience section to re-enforce your message.

Summary Examples:

‘A proactive, enthusiastic Retail Assistant with four years of experience in warehouse and department stores. Currently completing a diploma in Sales and Marketing. Used to a high-tempo working environment where the customer is king. Excellent multitasker with a proven record of contributing to customer retention and securing sales volumes especially within the clothing and accessory departments.‘

‘Customer-focused Retail Assistant with eight years of experience in upmarket furniture sales environment at various high-end malls. Well-spoken, assertive with strong product knowledge which helped to build a strong recurring customer pool. Often surpasses sales targets, with drive, ambition and determination.‘

‘Highly motivated Retail Assistant with a proven track record of encouraging maximum spending per customer. Ensure that the dollar store delivers against a set margin of daily sales transactions. Keeps a professional demeanor at all times, and does utmost to ensure every customer always leaves the store satisfied with their purchases and service provided.‘

‘A smart, conscientious assistant with extensive experience of selling, stocking and ordering merchandise in a gardening outlet mall. With her present employer, she has not only increased foot flow but also consistently contributed to the store's monthly sales figures.‘

Retail Assistant Job Descriptions Responsibilities

An employer would expect to see the following proven foundational duties and skill sets within an applicant’s resume. Herewith a few examples of primary Retail Assistant duties in various industrial environments.

Examples

A Retail Assistant at a Garden Outlet Mall may:

Provide excellent customer service with purchases, carrying plants and equipment for them, and handling garden equipment rentals.
Maintain store cleanliness and track inventory.
Handle all financial transactions and maintain the cash drawer.
Answer inbound phone calls and handle queries about gardening products, plants, seedlings and provide general advice regarding the usage of products.
Create merchandise displays and place supplier signage throughout the store.

A Fresh Food Store Retail Assistant may:

Operate the cash register.
Assist in preparation of sandwiches, burgers, hotdogs from the deli
Mopping and sweeping away spillages.
Present specials of the day.
Arrange for fresh food deliveries to customers within a 2-mile radius.
Do end of day cash ups.
Print discount and specials pamphlets weekly.
Replenish fruit and vegetable stock.

A Furniture Store Retail Assistant may:

Assist carpenter with sanding and polishing wood products.
Take orders from customers and manage project timeline.
Place display furniture in the store and rotate with new merchandise every week.
Handle client queries and complaints.
Label and price sale furniture in the store.

A Dollar Store Retail Assistant may:

Greet customers and find out what each customer wants or needs.
Operate cash registers, performing tasks such as counting money, separating charge slips, coupons, and vouchers, balancing cash drawers, and making deposits.
Maintain knowledge of current sale discounts and promotions,
Enforce policies regarding payment and exchanges and security protocols.
Capture sales prices, total purchases and receive and process cash or credit payment.

Highlight Your Accomplishments

You may be tempted to copy and paste the list of duties you performed under your accomplishment section. The drawback to doing this though is that you won’t stand out from the other applicants with similar experience.

Your goal is to think about what sets you apart, what you are most proud of, or what you achieved in your previous roles. Now communicate these through action-packed statements that grab the reader’s attention.

Examples:

Flat, Simple Duty (NOT SO GOOD):

Sell a variety of garden equipment products to customers.

Accomplishment Statement (BETTER):

Increased monthly sales by 100%, after focusing persuasive efforts on promoting garden accessories and sundry products, to customers in the process of buying equipment and tools at the store

Quantifying Your Resume

When writing your resume, you should be answering questions like “How much?” or “How many?” It would be best if you include numbers which provide a ‘’proof of work’’ element to your resume. For instance:

How many transactions do you process in a week?
How many recurring orders do you have in a month?
How many sales do you make in a month?

Examples

Handle on average a hundred customer transactions per week.
Responsible for maintaining a $1,000 cash bank with total sales reaching upwards of $50,000.

Retail Assistant Education Section

The education section forms an integral part of your resume. In short, indicate What, Where and When regarding your qualifications, certifications or industry licenses obtained. The name of your qualification, institution, and date of completion is more than sufficient. Unless you are a graduate with limited working experience, there is no need to include major subjects or course curriculum topics.

Examples

Completed High School and Post School education must be listed as follows:

Start with the commencement date and completion date for diplomas, associate degrees, and bachelor degrees. For courses, you can just record the date of completion.

Next comes the full name of the qualification, then the full name of the institution and then the City or abbreviated State name. List your high school diploma details similarly, but only include this when you have less than five years of working experience.

Herewith an example of qualifications for a Retail Assistant with more than five years’ experience:

2011 – Fundamentals of Effective Retail Sales, Michigan Ross School of Business, MI
2010 – Selling on Value, Not on Price Seminar, Cox School of Business, TX
2009 – Certificate in Marketing and Sales, Iowa Community College, IA

The example below is of a Retail Assistant’s qualification section for a candidate with less than five years’ experience:

Remember to add your majors, minors, GPA scores and accolades, and honors awards.

2019 – Advanced Course in Retail Management, International Career Institute (ICI), Online
Curriculum Outline: Merchandising and Design, Consumer Trends, Products and Inventory, Branding, International Business, Planning

2016-2018 Bachelor Degree in Sales and Marketing, University of Ohio, OH
GPA: 3.8
Majors: Sales Management, Marketing Management
Minors: Communications, Accounting, Economics
Accolades: Deans Honors List

2015 – High School Diploma, Estuate Secondary School, Reston, VA

Retail Assistant Resume Skills

Although the retail sales field requires specific technical skills, employers also consider soft skills. These are the personality traits or skills that indicate to your fitness as a Retail Assistant who will add value by meeting set out targets, has adequate knowledge, and sufficient experience to engage and attract customers. Incorporate these into your summary, or profile, and into your accomplishment statements.

Technical Skills Examples

Educational Attainment: A university degree is not generally required to become a Retail Assistant unless you are in a very specialized industry such as Electronics or Engineering.

Technical Aptitude: Retail Assistants usually work with Customer Information Management (CRM software) often unique to the industry that they are in. Examples are SalesForce, Hubspot, Copper, Freshsales, and Pipedrive. You also need to be familiar with email platforms like Gmail or Outlook (most companies have their in-house email software which should be easy to learn). For cash-ups, sales slips and inventory management applications such as SAP, Accpac, Zoho, TradeGecko, iVend or Sage are most used.

Soft Skill Examples

People Orientated
Negotiation
Customer Service
Empathy
Diplomacy
Perseverance
Friendly
Approachable
Persistence
Team Player
Promotor
Detail Orientation
Dedication
Physical Stamina
Energetic
Well Groomed
Eloquent

Qualifications/Certifications associated with Retail Assistants

Advanced Certificate In Marketing and Sales	Short Course in Retail Administration and Display	GED
Diploma in Retail Sales Management	Seminar on Value Added Selling	Inventory Management Course
Bachelor of Sales & Marketing	High School Diploma	Principles of Customer Service Certificate

Action Verbs for your Retail Assistant Resume

Closing	Introducing	Servicing
Listening	Helping	Interacting
Influencing	Involving	Negotiating
Selling	Cleaning	Making
Resolving	Engaging	Communicating

Professional Information for Retail Assistants

Sectors: Various
Career Type: Sales, Customer Service, Client Relations
Person type: Marketer, Presenter, Transactor, Supporter, Processor
Education levels: High School Diploma to Bachelor’s Degree
Salary indication: $13/hour to $20/hour. From $23k to $36k per year
Labor market: Estimated 10% growth between 2016 – 2026
Organizations: Outlet Stores, Department Stores, Warehouse Stores, General Merchandise Stores, Discount Stores, Specialty Stores, Supermarkets, Farmer’s Markets, Malls, Dollar Stores.